


A Fresh Start

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Following
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comment Fic, F/M, Glorious Denial of Canon, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-15 15:03:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year later, Mike and Debra head back to the Maryland State Forest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

> For the comment fic prompt _Any, any, revisiting the place of a crime to put the past to rest._  
> 

He'd been worried he wouldn't remember the way - after all, he's only driven this route once and that was twelve months to the day ago. It all comes back to him though, in vivid technicolor once he and Debra leave Havenport, head for the state forest.   
 _  
"They had an interesting way of interrogating me."_

_"We're on our way."_

_"I need you to call my sister..."_

_"Stop talking and just... save your air."_

_"Mike... you're a good man ... don't lose that, ok?"_  
  
He can feel his throat closing the closer they get to the site, and when he stops the car, in his mind's eye he can see the freshly dug grave, the shovels beside it. They get out of the car, like he did a year ago, but this time he walks, doesn't run, and there's no grave, just a small depression in the earth that marks the scene of their worst nightmares. 

He can feel the shovel in his hand but the memory is superseded when Debra slips a cold hand into his. Her other hand grips his elbow tightly and he looks down at her, frowning, because hard as he's finding this, he's even more worried about her. 

"You ok?" he asks and when she looks up at him, the breeze blows a lock lock of hair across her face. He brushes it back automatically, lets his hand linger on her cheek and she leans into his touch. "You know you didn't have to do this."

The smile she gives him is sad and far away. "That's what I said to them," she says quietly, looking down at the depression that twelve months ago was her grave. "They said they knew..."

She shudders and he steps between her and the grave, as if he can shield her from the memories with his body. She leans into him, drops her head on his shoulder and leaves it there for a long moment. 

When she straightens up, her eyes are clear. "I know you didn't want to come here..." she begins and he shakes his head. 

"I just..." He looks up at the sky, lost for words. "Deb, you nearly died here. I don't understand why you'd come back."

"Because I didn't." Her hands find his arms, run up and down. "And I promised myself that if I got a second chance, I wouldn't waste it." She squeezes his arms. "I wouldn't waste us." She looks down. "I lied... about my parents being my only regret. I didn't regret us... but I wanted more time."

Mike's hands find her shoulders, knead for a moment before sliding down to the small of her back. "We got that," he reminds her and she smiles, slipping her arms around his waist. "The rest of our lives." 

Her smile is as bright as the diamond on her hand. "That day changed me, Mike... it changed everything." That much he does know is true, because it had shown him that he didn't want to live without her - he'd been ready to propose the day she'd left the hospital, only a vague sense of propriety had kept the words back. Six months later, they would be denied no longer and when she said yes, it was the second most relieved he'd ever been in his life. 

"So you came here to, what? Let go?" He's finally starting to understand - the nightmares are less frequent now, for both of them, they're planning a wedding and a life together. And today, standing here with her... the place doesn't look as bleak, as scary, as he remembers it in his dreams. 

She nods, runs her hands up his back, pulls him close. "We got a new start a year ago," she tells him. "I want a fresh start now. No looking back."

Mike nods, brings his lips to hers. "Sounds good to me."


End file.
